Elusive giant squid captured on video in the ocean deep for first time

Researchers made nearly 100 attempts before getting footage.

One of the most mysterious denizens of the deep ocean has finally been caught on video. Four hundred hours of tracking using a submersible vehicle have culminated in the first-ever video footage of a live giant squid, shot in the Pacific Ocean about 620 miles south of Tokyo.

The squid in question is actually a bit of a small fry, measuring just about 10 feet long (adult females can grow up to 43 feet long). Given that almost all of what we know about the giant cephalopods comes from specimens that have washed up on beaches or have been extracted from the stomachs of sperm whales, the video is generating a lot of excitement.

"I've seen a lot of giant squid specimens in my time, but mainly those hauled out of the ocean. This was the first time for me to see with my own eyes a giant squid swimming," zoologist and expedition leader Tsunemi Kubodera told Reuters. "It was stunning, I couldn't have dreamt that it would be so beautiful. It was such a wonderful creature."

Luring the squid in range of the camera wasn't easy. The creatures avoid light and noise, so the submersible vehicle needed to operate in near silence while illuminating the scene with a near-infrared lamp. Using a 3-foot long squid as bait, it took nearly 100 attempts to get the footage.

Giant Squid Caught on Tape for First Time for Discovery Channel's 'Monster Squid: The Giant Is Real'

The Discovery Channel will air a documentary on the filming of the giant squid later in January.

Update: The headline was changed to clarify that this is the first footage taken of the giant squid in its natural habitat. In 2006, a giant squid was filmed after being snared as it was hauled to the surface, dying of its injuries.

44 Reader Comments

What's the evidence that females can grow 43 feet long if it's the first time we see a giant squid? Is it just the first time we see one live?

EDIT: According to Wikipedia, 43 feet is an estimate. No one ever found an actual 43-feet long female giant squid. The page still doesn't say how people came up with that estimate. How's my question not good?

The last time I heard about it, marine biologists came up with huge squid sizes because of tentacle marks on sperm whales, but they weren't sure if these marks were from giant squids or scars from smaller squids that grew bigger with the whale. (Or was that for colossal squids, which are apparently another species? See, I need someone to explain it to me.)

That same Wikipedia page says a giant squid was already filmed in 2006.

Fact checking before publishing a story? PREPOSTROUS, good sir. Think of all the coffee the author would miss out on during the 15 seconds it takes to wiki such a thing. I find the mere notion offensive!

I seem to remember (dangerous) that a (perhaps) Japanese team filmed a giant squid as it attacked a bait tethered to a long line. The camera looked down the line and the squid was seen to approach from below. I think this video was taken off New Zealand but I could be mixing other stories from about the same time.

I seem to remember (dangerous) that a (perhaps) Japanese team filmed a giant squid as it attacked a bait tethered to a long line. The camera looked down the line and the squid was seen to approach from below. I think this video was taken off New Zealand but I could be mixing other stories from about the same time.

DoomHamster linked to it above (link says they just photographed it, not filmed). I notice it's the same lead scientist who got this footage.

I seem to remember (dangerous) that a (perhaps) Japanese team filmed a giant squid as it attacked a bait tethered to a long line. The camera looked down the line and the squid was seen to approach from below. I think this video was taken off New Zealand but I could be mixing other stories from about the same time.

Correct. A live giant squid has been photographed, and video was taken of a dying specimen as it was hauled to the surface. That's why the headline says "video."

Still doesn't make the subject line true, though.

I have changed the headline and updated the article to reflect that this is the first video of a live, healthy squid taken in its natural habitat, referencing the 2006 video of a dying squid being hauled struggling to the surface.

Also, some might remember the Long Arm Squid video captured around 2007 near an oil rig. I swear that thing could double in any alien themed movie. The head alone reminds me of the movie Independence Day.

What's the evidence that females can grow 43 feet long if it's the first time we see a giant squid? Is it just the first time we see one live?

EDIT: According to Wikipedia, 43 feet is an estimate. No one ever found an actual 43-foot long female giant squid. The page still doesn't say how people came up with that estimate. How's my question not good? The last time I heard about it, marine biologists came up with that length because of tentacle marks on sperm whales, but they weren't sure if these marks were from giant squids or just grew up with the whales. (Or was that for colossal squids, which are apparently another species? See, I need someone to explain it to me.)

That same Wikipedia page says a giant squid was already filmed in 2006.

the 2006 footage was of a HOOKED squid... this is in it's natural habitat.

and the female in the Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian) is 36 ft long.. 43 isn't a stretch (no pun intended)

Because tentacles and arms fall off or, alternatively, can be stretched out, scientists often use mantle length as the best measure of a squid's actual size. The longest mantle length on record is 7.4 feet (2.25 meters); the length from the tip of the top fin to the end of the arms rarely exceeds 16 feet (5 meters), and the longest total length (including tentacles) of a squid on record is 43 feet (13 meters).

I have changed the headline and updated the article to reflect that this is the first video of a live, healthy squid taken in its natural habitat, referencing the 2006 video of a dying squid being hauled struggling to the surface.

Ars Technica has a reputation of being one of the most professional tech news outlets on the 'net. Your effort to maintain that reputation is much appreciated!

Awesome underwater footage, but what's the dead squid at the end? I can't tell if that's old footage, or they filmed the squid and then killed it.

I hope not, but you can never tell. As a biologist, I'm always left a bit wistful by the fact that biology is our study of living things...by killing 'em. There was an excellent recent autobiographical documentary by David Attenborough where he showed old footage (1960s?) of his visit to a beach where turtles had laid their eggs. Clearly embarrassed and quite rueful he proceeded to comment on the ensuing scene where his 1960s self was tucking into one of the eggs while noting how tasty and nutritious they were. Another wonderful creature of the oceans giving up secrets one at a time (the turtle, not David Attenborough)

Update: The headline was changed to clarify that this is the first footage taken of the giant squid in its natural habitat. In 2006, a giant squid was filmed after being snared as it was hauled to the surface, dying of its injuries.

Ironically your UPDATE did not convey the intention that well. As I read the Title prior to the rest of the article ending with the update - My first thought was the 2006 news item and was going to be the topic of my post.

EDIT: According to Wikipedia, 43 feet is an estimate. No one ever found an actual 43-feet long female giant squid. The page still doesn't say how people came up with that estimate. How's my question not good?

Wikipedia says the estimate is based on pieces of giant squid found inside the sperm wales that eat them. They mention 130 half-eaten squid were measured to reach that estimate.

There have also been other similar species captured that were larger than 43 feet, and there are plenty of unconfirmed reports of giant squid as large as 60 feet (one theory is that, being invertebrates, they are somewhat flexible so you could stretch them out to longer than their natural length).

I noted from other sites (ABC, I think) that not only is this the first video of a live, in habitat, giant squid its the first direct visual observation, the researcher was in the mini sub that got the video. The reason the video is so short is that its release was prohibited by contract with the Discovery Channel, who I'm sure paid a pretty penny to get get exclusive rights.